


Bittersweet and Strange

by VillainVogue



Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Beauty and the Beast Fusion, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-06-19 05:32:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15503397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VillainVogue/pseuds/VillainVogue
Summary: Chapter Two--In which Mildred decides to make herself at home, Maud decides to tell the truth, and Julie decides to give the 'monster' apparently holding her daughter hostage a piece of her mind, and possibly a punch in the mouth. (Or: Hecate receives another unexpected guest, and things go about as well as you'd expect; which is to say, badly.)





	1. Chapter One

This day was definitely not going the way Mildred had expected. But then, she really should have known better than to rise to Ethel's taunts, at this point.

Well, her first mistake was actually inviting Ethel along to explore the mysterious path in the forest that Enid had found, but she'd just wanted to try being nice to Ethel in the hopes that she might try being nice _back_ , and she was sure that that would probably have worked if Ethel wasn't so... Ethel-y.

One of the worst things about Ethel was that she always seemed to know what to say to make Mildred angry or upset. And the worst thing about Mildred getting angry or upset was that it often led to her making really, colossally stupid decisions.

Like agreeing to investigate the castle they'd spotted at the end of the path.

"Someone else ought to go with her, as a witness. Make sure she doesn't run away or anything." Ethel had declared, looking smug enough that Mildred wanted to give up on the whole thing and just hit her, but Ethel's parents were important--relatives of the mayor, or something, and very rich--and Mildred's mum didn't need any more trouble.

She'd chosen Maud, because she was starting to feel uneasy about the whole thing and wanted her best and most sensible friend along. And perhaps that was where the trouble actually started, because she certainly wouldn't have gotten herself into this mess if she'd brought Ethel instead.

"But she's your friend, she'll just lie and say you went in even if you didn't! You have to bring something back when you meet us at the town square, then, so we know you're telling the truth." Ethel had said with an air of finality, and Felicity had nodded along, and Enid and Maud had frowned and looked like they were about to argue before Mildred cut in.

"If you promise you won't say any more mean stuff about me or my mum ever again, then it's a deal."

And that had seemed like a pretty good bargain, at the time, (although Maud had still disagreed, quite vocally) but now everything had gone pear-shaped and it didn't seem worth the trouble. And _oh_ , there was trouble. Yes, the looming dark figure in the hooded cloak that had grabbed Maud was **definitely** trouble.

"Caught red-handed." Hissed the figure, and even from her hiding spot Mildred could see Maud shaking in fear. "Did you come here alone, little thief? That was quite foolish of you. But I expect you'll learn your lesson, and quickly. In fact, I'll ensure you do."

Maud would lie for her, Mildred knew. Maud would take the blame for her. But she couldn't allow that, not when it would put Maud in danger. So she leaped out, and squared her shoulders. 

"This is all my doing. I made her come with me. I'm in charge, so..." Mildred faltered as the figure turned its attention to her. "So... It should be me that gets punished. Not her. Especially since she was trying to stop me."

She nearly breathed a sigh of relief when Maud's feet touched the ground again, although the figure kept a clawed hand on her shoulder (and those really looked like actual claws, now that Mildred was getting a closer look). But she could tell the worst wasn't over yet, not by a long shot.

"How very noble." The cloaked figure drawled, cocking her head to the side as she regarded Mildred, somehow intensifying her gaze despite her face being hidden beneath the hood. "Do you have any idea where you are or who I am, child? Do you truly understand what you've gotten yourself into?"

Mildred drew herself up to her full height--which was not very tall yet, especially in comparison to the stranger in front of her--and nodded. "I think so, yes. So you can let my friend go, and--and then I'll face my punishment. Whatever it is, I promise I won't run."

"Millie!" Maud gasped, running to embrace her friend once she'd been released to whisper in her ear, panic evident in her voice. "But what if that thing  _eats you_?"

"Then I'll give her the worst indigestion ever." Mildred tried to grin back at her, but her smile wobbled a bit. "Just... Make something up, all right? We had to run and got separated in the woods, or something. If you're lucky, Mum will be too busy to realize I'm not just out playing whenever she's at home for a couple days, and I'm sure no-one else will notice anyway, so that'll give you time to think up a good lie. Get Enid to help you, if you need it."

Maud sniffled, and took a deep breath as though she was about to say something, but just then the hooded figure swept up to them, leaned in, and snarled at Maud. "You heard your friend. _Get. **Out**_."

And Maud ran, leaving the candelabra she'd grabbed from Mildred behind, and Mildred felt a claw-like hand seize the back of her dress as she was dragged further inside the castle.

Eventually, Mildred managed to pluck up the last of her courage and speak. "You should know, I'm probably gonna be _really_ stringy."

That caused her captor to stop in her tracks and look down at her. "I'm not going to _eat_ you, silly girl. That would be rather counterproductive. Now, come along."

Despite Mildred's attempts to then find out what, exactly, was going to happen to her, she was pulled up and up and up a set of curving stairs by her now-silent companion until they reached a small cell.

"What--but--no, wait, why are you locking me up? I promised I wouldn't run!" Mildred protested as she was shoved unceremoniously inside.

"You might well have run, after seeing this." And then, the hood was pulled back to reveal a black-furred face, its fanged mouth twisted into a sneer. Mildred took an involuntary step back--now she understood why Maud had looked so pale before.

"Consider this my insurance." The monster-woman explained, shutting and locking the door before Mildred could gather up her nerve and make a break for it. "And you'd best get used to your surroundings--this is, after all, a life sentence." 

With that, she swept back down the stairs, leaving Mildred alone with her thoughts--well, almost alone.

There was that candelabra again, sitting just on the other side of the door.

"...How did you get here?" She mused aloud, keeping her voice low just in case the beast was still in earshot.

And then, the candelabra did something very strange. It smiled at her and then it began to speak.

"I followed you up, of course. It was quite the task, but I was terribly curious! You see, it's been a very long time since we've had visitors. I apologize for my mistress, by the way. Not the best with people, our Hecate. Oh, I nearly forgot to introduce myself! I'm Algernon--and don't you worry, tadpole, I'll get you set up somewhere a bit more... comfortable. Be back in a tick, sit tight."

The candelabra--Algernon--bounded off, and Mildred was left to sit with a bump on the stone floor, absolutely stunned.

What _had_ she gotten herself into?


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Mildred decides to make herself at home, Maud decides to tell the truth, and Julie decides to give the 'monster' apparently holding her daughter hostage a piece of her mind, and possibly a punch in the mouth. (Or: Hecate receives another unexpected guest, and things go about as well as you'd expect; which is to say, badly.)

It had been about a day and a half when Hecate had realized that the girl was no longer in her cell, and another couple hours before she found Mildred again, this time sprawled comfortably across a large four-poster bed, drawing in a new sketchbook.

She could do nothing but stare, for a long moment, unsure how to proceed, before finally speaking.

"You're still here, then. Good." It sounded like an absolutely idiotic statement to her own ears, but what else was there to say?

Mildred set down her sketchbook and shrugged, not bothering to sit up properly, because of course she had no regard for others.

"Algernon and Miss Cackle said not to leave my room until you'd 'cooled down', and left Dimity to keep watch," She nodded to the wardrobe in the corner, who gave an apologetic shrug, "And _they_ were all really nice about it, so. I stayed put. And I didn't much want to leave, anyway, this is way nicer than my room at home, and loads better than a cell."

Hecate's eyes narrowed, and she sneered back at the girl.

"Of course. Because it's completely unreasonable of me not to extend proper hospitality or exercise good manners when dealing with someone who _broke into my home_." 

Oh, and _then_  the impertinent child deigned to sit up straight. "Well, you said it was a life sentence, so I guess they were just making sure it'd be a long one. I mean, when were you going to check on me? When were you going to bring food, or give me something to do so I wouldn't get bored and start thinking about how to escape?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Hecate could see Dimity making frantic gestures at Mildred to stop talking, but it was far too late now to prevent her from rousing Hecate's ire.

"I sent Miss Cackle to ensure your needs were being met, as you well know." Hecate bristled. "Besides which, you aren't here as a guest, you're a prisoner. Little more than a common criminal. I am certainly not obliged to spend my days attending on you, nor should you expect me to do so... But I suppose now that you've proven yourself trustworthy _enough_ , you may move about the castle if you wish. So long as you do so during appropriate hours, and _do_ _not_ enter my quarters in the west wing, or there shall be **_consequences_**."

And before the girl could say another word, Hecate swept out of the room, seeking a particular piece of clockwork--these were obviously Ada's machinations, after all, designed to...

To...

...Designed to do _what_ , Hecate couldn't say for certain, actually. But she had a couple guesses, and none of them good. Hope would only lead to heartbreak, after all--she'd learned that the hard way.

* * *

Julie Hubble certainly hadn't planned to spend one of her rare free afternoons sitting in the Spellbody's home listening to a tearful Maud's tale of a monster in a magic castle, but here she was, after a bit of back-and-forth with the girl's parents about where Mildred was and several 'but _I_ thought she was with _you_!'s exchanged.

"...And I-I don't know what happened to her after that, I just ran, I'm _so **sorry**_ \--"

"It's going to be all right, love." Julie had cut in, as gently as possible. "If you can show me where this castle is, I know I can make things right. I'll bring Millie back, safe and sound, you'll see."

She also hadn't planned to spend the remainder of the day traipsing through the forest, then wandering through an eerily empty castle, then getting into an argument with a... cat-monster? Well, some kind of talking beast that definitely matched Maud's description of 'black fur and sharp teeth and _really scary_ , Ms. Hubble'.

"The girl made her choice, twice over. and I cannot allow--"

"For crying out loud, I'm her _mother_!" Julie threw her hands up in exasperation as the creature continued to stand, impassive, in the doorway--and caught sight of movement out of the corner of her eye. A familiar scarf, and braids, scurrying past at the top of the staircase.

Julie spied an opportunity.

"Look, can you just--go and fetch her, please? I'm sure I'd feel a lot better about all this if I could actually talk to her."

The creature's eyes narrowed, but it nodded and swept back down the hall. Once she was certain she wasn't being watched, Julie darted upstairs to follow Mildred's path, softly calling out to her daughter as soon as she was out of earshot of the creature.

It wasn't long before she caught up, finding Mildred just as she'd ducked inside a large, darkened room with a strange, glowing stone sitting on a pedestal at the center.

Mildred whirled around at the sound of Julie's footsteps, panicked expression giving way to one of relief as soon as she realized who'd been following her.

" _Mum_! I'm so glad to see you! But what are you doing here?" The last couple words came out muffled, somewhat, given that Julie had swept her into the biggest hug she was capable of giving, but they were heard all the same.

"Coming to get you and bring you home, Millie-love! Now come on, let's get out of here before that _thing_ finds us." Julie made to leave, but Mildred held fast.

"But Mum, I did promise to stay, and it's not so bad here--"

Any rebuttal that Julie might have made to that proclamation, however, was cut short by the sound of the door hitting the wall as it flew open. Or rather, was pushed open with extreme force by the cat-monster in the cloak, who did not look at all pleased.

"Don't touch that!" She hissed, lunging forward to push a stunned Mildred away from the pedestal with the glowing stone. Julie pulled the two of them out of the direct line of fire in time, but the creature rounded on the pair in the next moment.

"Both of you. Get. _Out_." She snarled, looming over them. " ** _Now!_** "

Julie didn't need to pull Mildred along behind her as she fled from the room--her daughter was already running with her down the stairs, into the entrance hall, and out the big double doors.

Neither of them said a word or slowed their pace until they were well into the courtyard, almost to freedom.

"Mum..."

Julie held up a hand. "I know, you made a promise, but we were asked to leave, right? So we're leaving."

Mildred shook her head, pointing off to the side. " _Mum!_ "

Julie followed her line of sight, and found herself staring directly into the eyes of a very large, very fierce-looking wolf.


End file.
